Carbon Monoxide on College Campus

What Parents Should know about Carbon Monoxide on College Campus

By Rebecca Martin

                  Recently the New York Post published an opinion by Naomi Schafer Riley entitled “Parents need to stop crazy-shopping for their kids’ dorm rooms.” The article was written in response to questions posted on a Facebook group, Dorm Room Mamas, which the author quipped might considered to be a support group for helicopter parents. https://nypost.com/2024/08/10/opinion/parents-need-to-stop-shopping-for-their-kids-dorm-rooms/

What parents should know about carbon monoxide on college campus includes making sure their family members have a CO alarm in their own room.

While much of the article discusses trivial concerns like towels, snacks and décor, there is one thing that popped out that surprised me.

“These mothers (though there may also be fathers subscribed) have asked about which bathrobes to buy their kids, whether their sons should wear flip-flops in the shower, whether they should send a fire extinguisher or even a carbon monoxide detector to school with their child.” https://nypost.com/2024/08/10/opinion/parents-need-to-stop-shopping-for-their-kids-dorm-rooms/

I had to read the article several times to make sure I wasn’t imagining that the author was 1) unaware of the risk of carbon monoxide on college campuses, and 2) would describe carbon monoxide detectors in the same category as clean towels.

Evergreen College Poisoning in Washington

At Evergreen College in Washington State, there is a student housing unit which has remained empty since December 11, 2023, and serves as a testament to how real the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning is.  Evergreen student, 21-year-old Jonathan Rodriguez lost his life in that unit in a carbon monoxide poisoning incident that also sent two other students and a campus police officer to the hospital. After months of investigation, father and son contractors Frank and Brett McCutcheon have been charged with second-degree manslaughter. The investigation revealed that a tankless water heater had been installed incorrectly. https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/father-son-charged-evergreen-college-student-death

“A Washington State Patrol investigation found that Evergreen staff members repeatedly turned off and temporarily removed carbon monoxide detectors in the residence, aired out the unit, but then let Rodriguez and the two other students back inside and didn’t call the fire department until the students showed signs of distress 12 hours later.” https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/law-justice/2-technicians-charged-with-manslaughter-in-evergreen-state-students-death/#:~:text=A%20Washington%20State%20Patrol%20investigation,the%20students%20showed%20signs%20of

If the parents of Jonathan Rodriguez had the ability to turn back time, sending along a carbon monoxide detector with their son to use in his on-campus housing would certainly seem a very good idea.

carbonmonoxideinschools.org has dedicated its annual U.S. Based Campus Report Card to the Rodriguez family “in hope that other lives will be saved, and health protected due to the lessons learned from this loss”. https://www.carbonmonoxideinschools.org/_files/ugd/418170_589a16a0081d479998e0afc15acc622a.pdf

82% Increase in Carbon Monoxide on College Campus

This year’s report covers the academic year from August 1, 2023, to July 31, 2024, on all school campuses including Mixed Use Schools, Daycare/Early Childhood/PreK, Elementary Schools, Middle Schools, High Schools and College/University.  There were two very significant and alarming points uncovered in the report.

• There was an 82% increase in school-based CO incidents over the preceding year.
• There was a 134% increase in injuries requiring emergency medical treatment reported over the previous year.

Most of these incidents were caused by faulty fuel-burning appliances including HVAC, kitchen, and cleaning, and improper ventilation, due to human or installation error.

This resulted in:

• 1 fatality
• 61 transported by EMS to the hospital/hospitalized
• 91 receiving EMS treatment at the scene (with an unknown number of permanent injuries)
• 25 advised to seek offsite medical treatment (again with an unknown number of injuries)

These numbers do not represent the number of students potentially impacted at the scene of such incidents.

Catawba College in North Carolina CO Poisoning

For instance, a carbon monoxide incident at Catawba College in Salisbury, North Carolina on August 22, 2023, resulted in the evacuation of 61 students. While some residents were exhibiting signs of carbon monoxide toxicity which were serious enough to warrant evacuation, 61 students were potential victims of what was later confirmed to originate in the boiler room. All students were asked to report to the Proctor Health center to be checked out by EMTs, instead of being seen at the emergency room, and 5-8 students were transported to the hospital for further treatment. https://www.qcnews.com/news/u-s/north-carolina/catawba-county/61-students-evaluated-after-gas-leak-reported-at-catawba-college-officials/

At a Hood College residence hall in Frederick, Maryland on December 6, 2023, carbon monoxide detectors sounded causing the evacuation of students. The students were relocated, and the building closed for the remainder of the semester because engineers were investigating what caused the increased levels of carbon monoxide, and the college planned on boiler repairs and additional inspections prior to reopening the building. “No students were taken to the hospital, but several students went to Frederick Health Hospital on their own, and one student told The Frederick News-Post that she was diagnosed with mild carbon monoxide poisoning.” https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/education/schools/higher_ed/hood/hood-continues-to-look-into-monoxide-scare-in-dorm/article_d2040ebe-498a-54f5-9e4c-0f26a3ac9ad4.html

UW Madison Complex

On April 9, 2024, a UW Madison, Wisconsin campus apartment complex was briefly evacuated after a carbon monoxide detector went off. Firefighters determined that the probable source was a boiler that was malfunctioning which was ultimately shut down until repairs could be made. No students were treated at the scene, and all were allowed to return when CO levels returned to zero. https://www.cityofmadison.com/fire/daily-reports/2024-04-09/carbon-monoxide-leak-prompts-brief-evacuation-of-campus-apartment

In every evacuation scenario due to the presence of carbon monoxide, there are really no statistics which measure the long-term effects of carbon monoxide exposure because of the nature of the injuries caused by carbon monoxide toxicity. Symptoms may not appear for days, weeks or months following an injury. If a student has been told to seek medical care on their own and is not seen in an emergency room specifically for possible carbon monoxide exposure, the potential for long term damage may be addressed. The damage the student sustained may not become obvious until after their academic and social life have been affected, and at that point, the correlation between the injury and the problems they are experiencing weeks later may not be obvious to medical professionals.

Little Training or Experience to Prepare for Carbon Monoxide on College Campus

Faculty and staff are rarely trained to deal with carbon monoxide incidents and unlikely to recognize the delayed symptoms of carbon monoxide in the classroom.

While state requirements for carbon monoxide detectors are currently in a state of review as carbon monoxide awareness increases, there is a chart updated in March, 2023 available at https://www.brkelectronics.com/us/en/legislation-co/-/media/584C8FF6A5BD43DDB051DC8DB2D8A7D9.ashxAccording to this chart, 13 states have laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors in dormitories in general and 14 states requiring carbon monoxide detectors in schools, K-12. These numbers do not reflect what regulations may exist at the county or city level, but it is incomprehensible that carbon monoxide detectors are not required in every school, or in every dormitory. All too often, laws requiring carbon monoxide detectors are the result of an incident and seldom enacted as a preventative measure in advance.

Without legal requirements to install carbon monoxide detectors, colleges under budget constraints may forego installation. Especially in residential units which do not have fuel burning devices even though carbon monoxide issues can occur through the improper use of portable fuel-burning devices by residents, or equipment used by maintenance and cleaning staff improperly in enclosed areas, or even by the presence of vehicles and equipment used outdoors in proximity to an air intake source.

A story from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio in 2021 shows that a parent who sent off a carbon monoxide detector with their student was far from being the actions of a helicopter parent. Student Michel Shock had a personal carbon monoxide detector in his room. Shock credited his mother with the decision.

“It’s something I always had with me, everywhere I went that wasn’t our house because of a story of a family who went on vacation, and unfortunately, they all passed away in a hotel because they didn’t have carbon monoxide detectors. So, ever since then, she made me take it on vacation or any foreign place that I’m staying,” Shock said. https://www.wlwt.com/article/miami-university-student-dorm-carbon-monoxide-detector/38325005

Shock was in class when his roommate messaged him saying he felt like he was going to pass out. Then their carbon monoxide detector went off.  They were able to call the authorities, and run room to room, banging on doors, for everyone to get out. 250 students were ultimately evacuated that day. One person went to the hospital. A malfunctioning hot water heater was identified as the cause. Shock’s personal carbon monoxide detector not only was responsible for saving Shock’s roommate’s life, but it also helped save 250 students from what might have been a serious incident. Miami University immediately installed temporary CO detectors while it determined what type of permanent system to install. We can’t help but applaud Shock’s mom for making sure her son was safe when she sent him off to college.

Reddit has many posts from students opining that carbon monoxide detectors aren’t necessary. The reasons they give vary.

• There is nothing in the dorms that could produce carbon monoxide.
• Anything that could produce CO (open heating elements) are not allowed in University Residences.
• Drink water and get some rest. It’s not carbon monoxide, it’s your unhealthy habits
• You don’t need to worry about this. CO is a residential problem.
• Most of the dorms don’t use forced air heat in the first place, and those that do would be detecting CO in the air handler room where the heat exchangers are, and if there was any, the entire building would go on alarm and be evacuated.

As we can see, college students may be more at risk, due to the attitude that if you are experiencing dizziness, nausea, and other typical carbon monoxide poisoning symptoms, that can be written off to college lifestyles as easily as the symptoms can be confused with the flu or food poisoning. And there is an overwhelming belief that a fuel burning device must be in the individual room to be deadly or that the college or university has the whole thing under control.

Maybe towels and snacks and all the comforts of home aren’t that important in the scheme of things, but you must love a helicopter mom who packs a carbon monoxide detector. If just one turns out to be necessary, it is more than worth it.